Johnston McCulley

“ Thubway Tham told himself, and, having decided the question, he crossed his legs, lighted a cigarette, and puffed slowly.
Tham did not feel like descending into the subway and indulging in the act known to the underworld and the police department as “lifting a leather.” Being a successful professional pickpocket, Tham knew that he should not go about his work half asleep unless he courted incarceration, trial, and conviction. ”

“ They went slowly to the hotel with their morning catches, and just then Joshua Simlon came in with twice as many fish as any other man had and began boasting. The other fishermen glared at him and turned away, and then looked furtively at one another like a crowd of conspirators.
Thubway Tham sat alone at a table in a corner of the dining room at luncheon. He was looked over carefully by half a dozen men who fondly believed that they could read men aright. ”

“ Noel replied with some indignation. “I have been on my annual fishing trip.”
“My goodneth! Annual fithin' trip!” Thubway Tham exclaimed. “You go on one regular?”
“Certainly,” said Nifty Noel. “I take a fishing trip every year. Tham, my boy, it is a great thing. You get out into the sun and the fresh air, and it's great sport. Oh, I'd not think of missing my regular fishing trip.”
“No?” Tham asked.
“No,” repeated Nifty Noel. “It braces a man up, sweeps the cobwebs out of his brain, and he comes back to his—er—work with a new snap. It's worth many times the price expended.” ”

“ Craddock informed him. “Your ear is not attuned to the music of the reel. You have never felt the tug that means a two-pounder has taken your dare. To see the flash of silvery scales in the sun——”
“My goodneth!” Tham exclaimed.
“Ah, boy, that's the life!”
Craddock sighed. Thubway Tham lighted a fresh cigarette and puffed for a moment in silence,
“Well I must be going down the street,” Craddock said, getting up from the bench. “I'll see you again, Tham, and tell you about some of the big ones I caught.” ”

“ That in itself was enough to class the man as a simp, Tham told himself. It would serve Joshua Simlon right if Tham touched him for that wallet. It also probably would reimburse Tham for his little vacation trip and give him a profit also.
Tham felt sure that there was wealth in the wallet, for once or twice he had seen Joshua Simlon reach back and touch it. That is something almost every man will do, and professional pickpockets watch for that little, generally unconscious act. If he could get that wallet he would feel that Joshua Simlon had been repaid. ”

“ The team gathered speed, and the old vehicle rounded a curve in the woods and emerged upon a better road. In the distance was the lake with a couple of streams flowing into it, and the hotel.
Tham descended from the bus like a metropolitan, paid the driver, let a man have his grip, and entered the hostelry. As a hotel, it was not much for looks, Thubway Tham decided. But he was fair—he did not expect to find here in the woods the ornate splendor of a metropolitan hostelry. Moreover, he had come to fish. All he asked of the hotel was food and a place to sleep. ”

“ Tham interrupted.
“If I should pick a stool pigeon, as I was going to say, he will not be Nifty Noel. Word of honor!”
“Very well,” said Tham. “Did you have a good trip?”
“Oh, man!” Detective Craddock gasped. “The beauties I caught! Bass, Tham—and trout!”
“Tharkth and whaleth, I thuppothe!” Tham said,
“It's the life, Tham. If I was a rich man I'd run all over the world fishing. Boy, you want to get away some time and go up there. Go after the finny fighters, Tham, old-timer. Tackle the fresh-water fries! ”

“ Tham sneered. “I'll die of old age long before that time, Craddock. Where have you been lately? I haven't theen you for thome time. Houndin' thome poor thimp, I thuppothe. Been in court?”
“Ah, no!” said Craddock, grinning and sitting down on the bench. “Merit aways is rewarded, old-timer, sooner or later, though some men declare to the contrary.”
“You talk like an ath!” Tham complained.
“The powers that be gave me a little vacation, Tham. I caught a gentleman well known in burglary circles, got battered up a bit in the fight with him, and I was slipped ten days sick leave with pay.” ”

“ He traveled back to barefooted boyhood, when he had cut a pole and attached a cheap line, hook, and sinker, and, with an old tomato can filled with wriggling angleworms, had started out.
The catch in those days generally was composed of a couple of bullpouts, a few bony perch, and half a dozen sunfish of assorted sizes. Tham never had done the sort of fishing that causes men to rave and neglect their businesses and professions. He did not know one fly from another, or how to attach one. He never had used a reel. Once, he remembered, he had hooked a hungry bass who had not disdained a worm. ”

“ One by one the conspirators approached him and left their share, and then crept back through the woods to find their boats again. And at the proper time Thubway Tham raised his anchor and began the slow and painful row across the Jake to the hotel.
He was well within the time limit, but was the last man in. The hated Joshua Simlon was just before him, boasting of the catch he had made. Tham drove his boat to the wharf, and one of the hotel attendants made it fast. Joshua Simlon realized all at once that men were not listening to him, but were looking past him, their eyes wide. ”

“ One of 'em's named Joshua Simlon. Yeh'll meet him, I reckon. He's a pest.”
“What ith the matter with Jothua Thimlon?” Thubway Tham wanted to know.
“Jest a pest, that's all, Thinks he's the only man in the world who knows a fish when he sees one. He's rich, and comes up here every year, so folks jest let him rare and rant.”
“I've theen the Jothua Thimlon thort of guyth before,” Tham mentioned. “He needth to be handled.”
“And there ain't a man at the hotel with nerve enough to handle him,” the driver declared. “They're scared of him because he's rich.” ”

“ After the meal, when Tham strolled down toward the lake, two of these men accosted him and introduced themselves.
After preliminary conversational skirmishing they approached the subjects of the fishing contest and Joshua Simlon.
“Joshua Simlon is unbearable,” one of them declared. “In the city he is a decent sort, but let him get out here where he can smell the fish and he turns maniac. He's a nut on fish.”
“He isn't human,” the other declared, “He's won the prize for three years running, and I suppose he'll carry it away to-morrow.” ”

“ Tham complained. “Anyhow, it ith nothin' in my young life.”
“A fishing trip would do you a world of good, Tham.”
“Where did you go, Nifty?”
“Maine,” said Nifty Noel. “There are country hotels where a man gets genuine grub, Tham, old-timer. Hot cakes, waffles, fried chicken, and without the restaurant taste. Coffee—oh, man!”
“You intereth me thtrangely,” Tham admitted.
“Like to eat, do you? Then you take the trip, Tham. Catch your own fish and have them sizzling hot for your breakfast. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1958, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 65 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”